News

Clock ticking for states to adopt health exchanges

By Carla K. JohnsonAssociated Press

Posted:
04/18/2014 08:35:14 PM PDT

CHICAGO -- For the more than 30 states that defaulted to the federal government under President Barack Obama's health care law, time may be running out to decide whether to create their own state-run insurance exchanges.

With the chance to apply for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal help set to expire in a few months, even Obama's home state of Illinois is expressing little interest in taking the next step.

The law's disastrous rollout and lingering unpopularity have made it risky to raise the issue in a tense election year despite Obama's announcement Thursday that 8 million Americans have signed up for subsidized private insurance.

Health care advocates are pushing the Democrats who control the Illinois Legislature to pass a measure enabling a state exchange. They note that many states already running their own were able to enroll customers at a faster clip and will have more opportunity to scrutinize insurance rate increases for their residents.

However, it has barely been mentioned in the state capital of Springfield, with just weeks left to take action before the Legislature adjourns.

"The Democrats run this state. President Obama's from Illinois. It's up to them to do it," said Jim Duffett of the Campaign for Better Health Care, a nonprofit coalition that has been helping Illinois residents sign up for coverage. "Who's in power makes a difference; you can't hide from it anymore."

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Many of the remaining states that declined to adopt their own exchanges are controlled by Republicans, some of whom want to eliminate what they call "Obamacare." But Sonya Schwartz of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, which has been tracking states' implementation of the health law, puts Illinois at the top of a list of states more likely to approve an exchange. Her list also includes Iowa, Arkansas, Michigan, West Virginia, New Hampshire and Delaware.

But the same reluctance is holding back many of those states, despite a November deadline to get access to funds to help secure a state exchange, which in Illinois' case could mean as much as $500 million. In Michigan, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder prefers creating a state-run exchange, but he has been rebuffed by the GOP-controlled Legislature. In Iowa, where the health care law is expected to be a big issue in a U.S. Senate race, the Legislature is expected to adjourn soon without any action on a state-run exchange.

In Illinois, Republicans are expected to exploit the health law's problems in election campaigns against incumbent Democrats in Congress, including Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the U.S. Senate.

The governor's race, between incumbent Democrat Pat Quinn and his Republican opponent, wealthy businessman Bruce Rauner, is expected to be one of the most hotly contested in the nation.

While state lawmakers have less connection to the federal law, the idea of any state measure associated with the Affordable Care Act remains unpopular with both parties, said Pat Brady, a former Illinois GOP chairman.

"A lot of people don't want to have their names associated with it," Brady said.

The health care law was designed for each state to run its own insurance marketplace, but just 16 states and Washington, D.C., opted to do so. The federal government ended up running exchanges for the other states, plus Idaho and New Mexico, which ran out of time to fully implement their own exchanges.